Well, I've recently been struck with an idea and would like to share - as long as nobody steals! I'm new to this forum, so be kind, please :)

So the story would be about this girl, Hayley, who's seventeen and going slowly insane. Well, not 'insane', per se - but schizophrenia is slowly taking over her mind. And seeing as she's living on the streets of New York City, she has no one to turn to, no one to help her, no one to depend on to help keep her grounded. She doesn't have the money - nor the trust - to go to doctors for treatment, so she downspirals into the disease. From waking up with strange men watching over her, to hearing whispered conversations about aliens and George Bush, to bleeding spiders, it'll definitely be a little creepy. I hope.

So, does anybody have any thoughts? Any suggestions? Any criticisms? It'd be greatly appreciated. Oh, and just so you know... if you stole this idea, you will surely regret it =) The idea is copyrighted to moi, and only moi. Kapeesh? XD ~Wander the Worlds

The thing is, when you delve into that kind of subject matter, you need to make sure it isn't super humourous, like i.e- Hayley screamed as aliens started poking her with doughnutholes or something.

I would think that you could kind of make her mindset as chronically depressed and paranoid- not like she's in a baby world or something of that sorts, but deeply, mentally betrodden. You also need to give description as to why she feels this way. Describe how she got on the streets, whether by flashbacks, memories or different P.O.Vs. Also, don't just make the focus on her depression/schizophrenia. Describe how life is for her on the streets, and how different things make her react.

Yes, I was sure it wasn't going to be like 'aliens poking her with doughnutholes'... it was certainly not going to be a humorous tale, more of her down-spiral through life, both on the streets and in her mind. Thanks for all the suggestions, I really appreciate it. I'll definitely keep what you said in mind while writing :)

Sounds very interesting! I myself will actually be posting a story soon about schizophrenia. It's a little less realistic though. Here's the summary:

Lilith Montgomery’s mother had just passed. She had hung herself after a voice told her to. And now, Lilith fears she may have inherited her mother’s illness. She fears that she may be going insane. And when the voices and false visions start, she believes it is happening. With no other hope, her father sends her to the Asylum at Blackwell’s Island, where she seeks help. But help is not offered in such a horrid place- where inmates from the penitentiary watch over the patients and where the attending doctors abuse them. When a young new doctor starts, Lilith finds herself falling for him- drawing her into a world where gods battle gods. Are the voices Lilith and all the others hear truly the voices of gods, battling against each other through the use of these people, urging the schizophrenics to do their work on Earth? Or are they merely musings of a mind captured by schizophrenia? All Lilith knows is that in order to make it stop, she must either obey the words of Samael, the Devil, or work against him in a battle as old as God himself.

Oh man, I'd love to see a well-done schizophrenia story done in YA! There's so little innovation in this genre...at least, innovation is hard to find under the mounds of fads ("pillowbooks", yaoi, "songfics", exceptions of course), and there's nothing like a good psychotic romp of a read anyway (see Sylvia Plath, lol).

I advise writers to STUDY UP on the illness; it's not all 'voices', and it's not exactly the best way to try and be humorous.

In fact, I really really recommend The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn R. Saks. It's a rare documentation of schizophrenia from an ACTUAL schizophrenic, and it's very comprehensible to the average, non-schizophrenic reader. Not only does she talk about her childhood, and how glimpses of the illness seemed to be present even then, but her time in an asylum and in therapy, as well as descriptions of her psychotic breaks throughout. Very interesting book.

I know this was posted quite awhile ago last year but I wanted to reply anyways. I just joined the site and wanted to mention that if you were still working on this idea and had questions on schizophrenia, I would love to help you out. I experienced schizophrenia last year. I myself have thought about writing a story about someone with schizophrenia. But since I've actually been in a mind frame of truthfully thinking weird stuff like there were soldiers out murdering my neighbors, etc.....its just a little too close to home. At least for now. Maybe one day.... but yeah, I'd love to help you out. Of course that is if you aren't already done.

I know this was posted quite awhile ago last year but I wanted to reply anyways. I just joined the site and wanted to mention that if you were still working on this idea and had questions on schizophrenia, I would love to help you out. I experienced schizophrenia last year. I myself have thought about writing a story about someone with schizophrenia. But since I've actually been in a mind frame of truthfully thinking weird stuff like there were soldiers out murdering my neighbors, etc.....its just a little too close to home. At least for now. Maybe one day.... but yeah, I'd love to help you out. Of course that is if you aren't already done.